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How do I adjust the Pressuretrol?

agostinho
agostinho Member Posts: 3
in THE MAIN WALL
(see attached photos)
Can someone help me figure out how to adjust the controls for my one-pipe steam system? The house is not too big - but four floors tall. The 'pressuretrol' gauge in the middle is all the way up - and the 'cut-in' gauge on the right is all the way near the bottom.

Any help deciphering the gauges for a layman would be greatly appreciated. thanks...

Comments

  • Ken_8
    Ken_8 Member Posts: 1,640
    There's a problem

    The grey pressuretrol on the right looks like the setting is about right. The pressure gage however (in the added - not the shown jpg) reads 4.5 #!

    Either the pressuretrol is defective, the pipe from the boiler to the pressuretrol is plugged with muck, or the pressure gage is blown. Find out which and report back here.

    98% of all steam systems in the U.S. require a MAXIMUM of 2 # to function properly. Using more simply wastes fuel, screws up dimension "A" which is critical for proper operation and can create a bunch of avoidable problems.

    So, once you resolve the conflict of what the pressure gage reads and the grey pressuretrol setting, you can tweak the grey pressuretrol to never allow the system to go above 2#.

    Start by setting the little white wheel under the grey cover to '1' Careful. The bare wires inside the cover may "bite" you. Turn off the power before touching anything!

    Once you get the gage and pressuretrol trustworthy, and the boiler running ~half to two pounds, lower the left, manual reset pressuretrol to around 5#.

    You should then be G2G (good to go)

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  • Al Letellier
    Al Letellier Member Posts: 781
    setting pressuretrol

    Not sure without seeing how it is wired, but when we see this (not usually on a small residential set up) the pressuretrol on the left is the high limit and the one on the right is the operating control. Normally the operating control would be set at the lowest setting ( .5) and the differential wheel under the cover at 1. the high limit would be set above the new operation pressure of 1.5, say around # PSI. This will protect your vents that are usually rated for 5 PSI max. Be careful to shut off the power if you go into the operating control. There' slive exposed wires in there.
    You should hire a professional to inspect the wiring before playing with this control. IT MAY BE WIRED DIFFERENTLY THAN I DESCRIBED. BE CAREFUL!!!

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  • agostinho
    agostinho Member Posts: 3


    Thank you Al and Ken for the advice. I also think it would be wise to have someone look at it who knows what they are looking at!
  • Matt_28
    Matt_28 Member Posts: 34
    pigtails

    I think your syphon loops are installed incorrectly under the pressuretrols. From what I have learned they should be faced so that as they heat up they do not influence the controls above. As they get hot the piping expands which can throw them off from level. See piping diagram attached.

    Matt
  • agostinho
    agostinho Member Posts: 3
    level gauges?

    (without really knowing what I am talking about) it seems like the gauges would become off level due to expanding pipe no matter which direction the pigtails are oriented. Or do they only need to be level side-to-side and not front-to-back?
  • Matt_28
    Matt_28 Member Posts: 34
    Side to side only

    I just did a search for pigtails through this forum to confirm my thoughts. If you have a non-mercury pressurtrol it is not a big deal, but still wrong. With the mercury type, the pigtail piped this way will throw off its accuracy by allowing the mercury tube inside to flip side to side early or late.
  • michael_15
    michael_15 Member Posts: 231
    Leveling

    The sensor is a lever/seesaw that flips side-to-side. It doesn't matter if the gauge becomes slightly off-level front-to-back, but it needs to be level side-to-side.

    -Michael
  • Calif. Curt
    Calif. Curt Member Posts: 3
    pigtails

    The position of the pigtails is not critical if the controls have micro-switches instead of the mercury tubes. Micro-switches are even used aboard ships where nothing stays level, so the position of the pigtails in this instance is not a problem.

    And, unless you are operating a high pressure boiler (100 psi or higher), I doubt that there will be much actual change in the position of the pigtails at the pressures and temperatures this boiler operates at.
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